Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Well behaved? No, well cowed.
"President Biden took a swipe at the American press while sitting down in the Oval Office with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Fox News. "I think what we're going to do is to bring in the press," Biden began on Friday as they sat down. "The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press." "I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won't ask questions on point." "Biden's snarky comment on Friday was the latest spat with the White House Press Corps and reporters," Mail Online. "Just a couple of days ago, Biden was criticised for not taking questions during Tuesday's meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; something Johnson did." Shows that politicians do not like to be questioned on their power. Unfortunately for Biden, he is restricted by the US Bill of Rights while Modi has no restrictions whatsoever. "On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution," National Archives. "Ten of the proposed 12 amendments were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on December 17, 1791. The ratified article (Article 3-12) constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, or the US Bill of Rights." The very first Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law....abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." "India ranks 142nd in the world in press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders. Russia is 150th (US is 44)," said Chick Ross, an investigative reporter at the Washington Free Beacon. White House press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Biden, Times of India (TOI). "I don't think it was meant to be a hard cut at the members of the media -- people he has taken questions from today and on Friday as well," she said. The media in India, on the other hand, has been labeled 'Godi media' which means 'media sitting on lap' or 'lapdog media', wikpedia. Here, "At least 17 people have been arrested by the Delhi Police over posters criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the coronavirus pandemic," NDTV. The posters asked in Hindi "Modiji (respectful) why have you sent vaccines meant for our children to other countries?" No criticism, no abuse, not a single derogatory word. "Tax authorities in India raided several offices of one of the world's biggest selling newspapers," CNN. Dainik Bhaskar was raided because, "The paper shocked India with its reporting of dead bodies in the river Ganges during the brutal second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic this spring. It criticized authorities for under-reporting Covid-19 deaths and challenged state officials and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over their handling of the crisis." In February, "Police in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi had booked Google CEO Sundar Pichai and 17 others ....over a video that allegedly defamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi but later removed the tech giant officials' names from the FIR, police officials said," TOI. Also in February,"Indian police have arrested a 22-year-old activist linked to Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg and charged her with sedition, saying she created and shared an online document to support the ongoing monthslong farmer's protests," Reuters. The US guarantees right of protest, in India a young woman is brutally treated just for supporting a protest online. In March, Pratap Bhanu Mehta resigned from his professor's post at Ashoka University because, "My public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens is perceived to carry risks for the university." Prof Arvind Subramanian also resigned in support. The world does not see India as a democracy anymore, BBC, which is what Biden was referring to. Recently, the Income Tax Department conducted "surveys" on offices of NewsClick and Newslaundry and seized documents and phones of employees, The Wire. Cow protection is a fundamental right of Hindus, said Allahabad High Court, TOI. Right. But who will protect Hindus?
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